


Times Up

by AeBolek9



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Explicit Language, F/M, trigger warning: attempted rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-23 01:24:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4857923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeBolek9/pseuds/AeBolek9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This idea was taken from Tumblr but I sadly do not know the user. As soon as I do, I will update!<br/>I do not own any of these characters. </p><p> </p><p>  In the future, everyone has a clock attached to their wrist which counts down to the day they meet their soulmate. This is a day most girls would dream of except for Annabeth Chase. But, once her clock runs out of time, the person she meets is not what she ever expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I'm trying this out. I will probably only update if I get comments to or see a lot of views because I have low self esteem
> 
> Enjoy!

When I was born, like every baby, I had a clock attached to my wrist. On the clock, my mother said that the days was at 6,570 days. When I was about 5 years old, I did the math and I found out I would meet my soulmate at the age of 18. Most girls that I met, had closer dates, farther dates or had reached 0 before they could meet them. When the clock set to 0 that meant that their soul mate had died. They would never meet their true love. They would remain sad and alone for most of their life. Don't get mad at me. I'm just looking at this from a realistic view.

 

My theory of how these clocks work is that they reach zero at the time you are ready to meet your soulmate and be accepting. So most of these girls have probably passed their soulmate and made fun of their soulmate, but as soon as that clock hits 0 and they see the guy, they freak the fuck out. Forget that they made fun of just minutes before.

 

That's why I just don't care about my clock. I doubt I have met my soulmate yet. That's why my clock is set at 18. I, personally, would have set it higher for at least until I am out of college. But, supposedly I am meeting my soulmate in a couple hours because today is my birthday.

 

5 hours to go.


	2. I Just Want a Damn Hamburger

"Annabeth! Get down here! Your friends are here!" my mother shouted from the end of the stairs. I stood in front of my full length mirror looking at myself. My friends said I had to dress nice because in 5 hours I am meeting the person I am suppose to be with for the rest of my life. I decided on a black dress that goes to my knees. The dress swooped under my neck and a long sleeve on one arm. My blonde hair was pulled up, curls still falling into my face no matter what I tried to do. I slipped into my black heels and walked into the hall. Even though I didn't feel nervous, my heart pounded. Never in my life had I cared about this moment. I've watched all the girls wreck themselves over this moment. I had always kept my cool and acted like it was no big deal. Because it is no big deal. It's just a person. Nothing special about them. So, I finally got the courage to walk down the stairs.

"Girl! You look smoking!" yelled my friend Hazel. Her curly, brown hair was flying everywhere and her brown skin glowed. She ran over and grabbed me into a hug.

"It's a surprise we got you away from Frank." I laughed as she twirled me. Hazel had met her soulmate, Frank, about a month ago and it was hard to pull her away.

"Seriously, you need to be told you are meeting your soulmate more often." my other friend Bianca said to me. Her raven black hair was pulled into a bun. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes held sadness. When Bianca was born, her clock was already set to zero. I pulled her into a hug and said to her, "Are you going to be okay?"

She nodded into my shoulder and said, "I can't ruin this for you. It is going to be great."

"Eh, I've seen better." said my best friend in the world, Piper. Piper was the most gorgeous girl from their high school. She had chocolate brown hair that she cut into layers. Her kaleidoscope eyes always held curiosity. She pulled me in, "Happy birthday girl."

"Can you believe we are both meeting our people tonight?" Piper and I both had us meeting them tonight. Her's was a few minutes behind mine.

"It is going to be interesting. Come on let's get this party started!" Piper grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door. Bianca and Hazel squealed and followed us out the door.

We all piled into Piper's car and started down the road.

"Okay, so we have 4 and a half hours until Annabeth meets him! Where to first guys?" Piper shouted over the music.

"Well, I think we should eat first." Bianca suggested.

"Could we go eat at Half-Blood Hub?" I asked. Half-Blood Hub was my favorite restaurant in downtown New York.

"Anything for you, birthday girl." Piper said, winking at me. I proceeded to wink back and turn my head out to look out the window. I tried to look calm on the outside, but on the inside, I was freaking the fuck out. How do I do this? What if I hate him and he hates me? Could this thing on my wrist be messed up? What if he died before I could meet him? I know I am just being a worry wart, but all this has happened.

Piper parked the car in a garage and we began walking to Half-Blood Hub. As we were walking, I started to people watch as the girls talked about all the shops. People watching is one of my favorite past times. As I was watching I noticed this guy about my age walking with his friend. They were laughing, probably about some dumb guy joke. The guy had jet black hair and had a lacky, tall build. His friend on the other had was blonde and built like a football player. I turned my attention back to my friends as we walked into Half-Blood Hub.

We sat down at a booth in the back and started looking at our menus. I was completely thinking about getting the hamburger deluxe, when Piper read my mind.

"Annabeth, you can not order the hamburger deluxe. You are about to meet your soulmate and then have to take a shit." I sighed and ordered a salad like the rest of them. That's when we started talking about who my person would look like.

"How about we all take bets?" Hazel suggested. "I bet it is a female who is the exact opposite as her."

"I bet it's a guy who is tall, tan, and gorgeous." Bianca said a dreamy look in her black eyes.

"I bet it's that guy over there." Piper pointed at the guy I had noticed earlier.

"Yeah right Piper. If it was him, wouldn't my clock have gone off now?" I laughed.

"Not exactly," Piper started, "The time ends at the time you are ready to meet them. So right now, it could be him, but you are not ready to meet him. When you finally are the timer will end and you will have met them."

"I still don't think it could be him. I saw him earlier when we were walking." Piper shrugged just as our salads arrived. I looked over at the guy again. It couldn't be him? I am sure my timer would have gone off when I first spotted him. We all finished our salads and paid the waiter. We got up and started walking back out to downtown.

"Now where to?" I asked.

"Why the frat houses of course!" Piper yelled and the rest of them cheered.

Great. I thought. My guy is going to be a frat guy.

3 hours to go.


	3. 18 Shots Straight from Hades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is attempted rape in this chapter. It will be lingering through the story and I will also post when ever it is going to be brought up.
> 
> Also, sorry this is so short! I just wanted to get to the good part too ;)

Once we got to the frat houses, everyone jumped out of the car except me. If I thought my heart was pounding hard, it was about to beat out of my chest now. I thought it was going to explode inside of me. It would be easier that way because then I would be dead and would not have to do this.

“Okay guys,” Piper shouted over the roaring music, “Hazel is the DD so everyone else get your drink on!” We all gave a whoop and marched up to the house. The house was booming music and shouting. As soon as we walked in the smell of alcohol and weed hit our noses. Everywhere there were people making out and getting farther. There was this short, pale guy with straight black hair making out with a strong, tan, blonde hair guy. Now I should explain why there are so many people making out. Some are people who may have just found out they were each other’s one. The others are people who still have a while to meet someone. Just because we have clocks that say when we meet the person we are meant to be with us doesn’t mean we don’t have hormones. We are still teenagers who want to experience what the lucky ones get too. I have never done that but mostly because high school boys are the worst. 

“Guys! Drinks this way!” a guy in a cheetah print shirt shouted. We followed him into the kitchen where there were drinks everywhere. Wine, beer, and every type of booze you could imagine. 

“Annabeth, you look like you could use a shot right now.” Piper held one of the vodka shots in her hands. I looked down at my wrist and it said I had about an hour and a half left. 

“Might as well gain some courage,” I murmured to myself and tipped the shot into my mouth. “Holy Hades, that burns!” Everyone around me started roaring with laughter. The guy with the cheetah print shirt pushed some cheap wine into my hand and I downed it like I hadn’t drank anything in two days. He refilled my cup and Piper grabbed my arm.

“Come on! Let’s go dance!” She ripped me from the kitchen and brought me into the kitchen. We reached the living room where Bianca and Hazel were already dancing. Some loud music was playing and everyone was grinding on someone or something. I am pretty sure someone was doing it against the wall. I downed my cup of wine and threw the cup over my shoulder. I was just buzzed enough where I could let loose and dance. Piper, Hazel, and Bianca stood on a table.

“Okay everyone! We have a birthday girl in the room!” Piper shouted over the noise. 

“So, we are going to have her do 18 birthday shots right now!” Bianca squealed. The cheetah guy walked out of the kitchen with a tray of shots.

“Happy Birthday Annabeth! Cheers!” Hazel laughed and jumped down to hand me the first of 18 terrible shots. I looked at it. I can’t get drunk before I meet the person I will spend the rest of my life with. Then I thought, I need to be drunk before I meet the person I will spend the rest of my life with and downed all 18 shots in 5 minutes. After the final shot, I pounded my fists in the air and let out a victory screech. Everyone cheered around me. 

“I have to go to the baaaaaathhhhroom.” I slurred at Piper.

“Okay party animal.” She laughed and pointed me into the direction of the bathroom. I stumbled my way through the house. Everything was starting to blur and turn tipsy. Once I made it to the bathroom, I somehow managed to get onto the toilet without making a mess. I stood up and flushed the toilet. Looking at the swirling water started to make me sick, but I pushed it down. I looked at my wrist again. Half hour. I opened the door, or maybe I threw it open and strutted out of the bathroom. That’s when someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a room.   
“Piperrrrr, thiiiissss issssn’t funnny. I don’t feeell soooo goooddd.” I slurred out and turned to not see Piper there, but instead a tall, blonde guy with a scar from his eye to his mouth. He was built like he did fencing all his life. “You cute. But half hour still.”

“Well then, a half hour until you are taken,” and the guy grabbed me and pushed his lips onto mine. Through my drunken haze, I pushed him back.

“Uhhhh… I amm abbbouuut to meettt my persooon.” I tried to stumble away, but he threw me onto a bed and jumped onto of me. 

“You still have a half hour then hot stuff.” He started to try to take off my dress and panties while kissing my neck. His hands were everywhere on me. Somehow, I managed to sober up enough to bring my knee up to his crotch. He let out a groan and rolled off of me. I got to the door and started to drunkenly run. I ran smack right into Piper. 

“What’s wrong Annabeth? You look like hell.” Piper gave me a questioning look. 

“I have to get out of here. I need to leave.” and I pushed aside her. I stumbled to the door and got hit by a blast of cold air. Great, I am drunk and I have no idea where I am. An Uber would not be here for another 5 minutes and I just had to get out of here. So I started walking down the street. Once I get far enough away I will call an Uber. When I had almost reached the corner of the street, I felt a hand on my arm. I turned around so fast I started to stumble. Whoever it was steadied me. I looked down afraid of who I was going to see. That’s when I noticed the time on my wrist. It was at zero. Shaking, I looked up and was met with the most gorgeous green eyes I had ever seen. That’s when I realized it was the guy from the street.

“Hey.” He said with a smirk on his face. 

Right as I was going to say something, I looked down and puked all over my soulmates shoes.


	4. Blue Pancakes are the Best Food Ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not usually expect this from me. I have a lot of time on my hands

Let’s skip ahead to the next day because the rest of the night is a blur. All I remember from that night is him swooping me into his arms and carrying me to his car. The next morning I woke up in a small apartment to the smell of pancakes. My head was pounding and when I sat up, I started to feel dizzy. Where the hell am I? For a second, I worried that I was in the house of Scar Face. I started to look around the room when I saw puked covered shoes on the floor. Oh my gosh! I am at my person’s house! I started to examine the room further to decide what kind of person he is. On his nightstand was a picture of him and the blonde haired guy I saw him with yesterday. Another picture was of him and who I was assuming was his mom. He had a bunch of movie posters all over his room ranging from Gladiator to a Frozen one. When I laid eyes on the Frozen poster, I started to laugh.

“Hey, you are up.” A voice came from the door. I turned to him and saw he was leaning against the door, mixing a blue batter.

I pointed at the batter, “What is that?”

“Oh,” he laughed looking down at the batter, “Blue pancakes. It’s kind of an inside joke between me and my mom. I started making some because she had a long night last night at work. And I thought you should get some food in you too.” He started to blush and looked down. 

“Well thank you-” That’s when I realized I didn’t know his name, “Oh my god, I do not even know your name!” He started to laugh so hard that he snorted. I started to get defensive. “What is so funny?” I crossed my arms over my chest giving him a look.

“Well, I know your name because last night you were shouting it and telling me about how you were stalking me all night.” 

“I wasn’t stalking you!” I could feel my face starting to burn. “You just happened to be in the same places as I was!”

He laughed some more and started to turn out the door and looked over his shoulder, “That’s called fate, Wise Girl.” and he started to walk back to the kitchen.

Frustrated, I yelled after him, “That’s not an answer to what your name is!”

“Percy! It is Percy.” He yelled back. When he said his name, I felt my heart skip. It seemed like I knew that. That I already knew his name in my heart. That made me feel frustrated. So I started stomping to the door when I looked over to the corner. There was a chair sitting there and had clothes folded into a pile. I walked over and picked up the shirt. I held it to my body and noticed it was just my size. He got me out clothes. How nice. Glad he didn’t try to strip me last night and change me. I took off my dress and threw on the t-shirt and sweat pants. The t-shirt was a NYU shirt. I walked over to the door and walked into the kitchen. My nose was immediately hit with the smell of bacon and maple syrup. My stomach gave away my position by growling the loudest I have ever heard it and Percy turned to look at me. He had this goofy grin on his face and I was certain it was permanently there. I looked around the small kitchen. It only had enough room for all of the necessary appliances and a small bar. I sat at the bar and watched him make the pancakes.

“So… You are going to NYU in the fall?” I asked him, playing with the hem of the shirt.

“Yeah. I plan on going for Marine Biology. I have this really weird connection with sea animals. Where do you plan on going?” He flipped some blue pancakes onto a plate and set the plate in front of me. He set a second plate beside me, grabbed some silverware and the syrup, and sat next to me. “Oh shoot! The bacon!” He jumped up from his seat and took the bacon off the stove. He laid a plate of bacon right next to us and sat back down. “So, you are going to…?”

“NYU too. I am going for Architecture.” I reached for the bacon. He made it extra crispy, the same way I liked it. 

“Oh! Like Ted Mosby! You know, from How I Met Your Mother?” He started to shovel food into his mouth. Literally, I do not think he stopped to breath as he pushed food into his mouth. 

“You watch that show? Didn’t it end terrible? Why would you watch a terrible show?” I picked up a piece of the blue pancake and started to look at it questionably.

“One, yes it ended poorly, but I still watched it. And two, it is an amazing show.” For once, he actually stopped to take a drink of some milk. 

“I am more into mystery shows. Like Castle.” I put the blue food into my mouth. “Oh my god, this is the best thing in the whole world.” I started to shovel the food into my mouth like he did. “Now I understand why you eat food like there is no tomorrow.” 

“I do not eat like that!” But he was laughing as he said it. That’s when I heard the door open to the second room in the apartment. The women from the nightstand photo walked out of the room. Percy jumped from his chair and ran to her. 

“Mom, this is Annabeth Chase. Annabeth, this is Sally Jackson.” I wiped my hands on a napkin and walked over to them.

“Please to meet you ma’am-” Sally wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. 

“I am just so happy Percy finally met her.” She let go of me and started walking to the kitchen to make coffee. 

“Sorry about that.” He said apologetically. He started to run his hand through his hair. “She always worried I would never get to meet the one I was suppose to be with. She worries all the time. Oh, also, I charged your phone for you. You have a lot of missed calls from someone named Piper.” He handed me my phone and I saw I had 20 missed calls and 10 voicemails. I clicked on the most recent voicemail and put my phone to my ear.

“Well I guess you are having too much hot sex to answer your phone for your best friend. Head over to your house as soon as you are done because I need to tell you about last night! You aren’t the only one who met the one! Come now!”

I looked over and noticed Percy heard all of that. I felt so embarrassed I started to stammer out, “I am so sorry. My best friends were super excited to meet my person because it was my birthday and then I ditched them. Can you give me a ride back to my house?” 

“Of course I can.” He went to go tell his mom and grabbed his car keys. “By the way, if you want, you can totally lie and tell them about the rocking sex we had last night.” He gave me a wink and started out the door. This is the guy I am suppose to spend the rest of my life with. I smiled to myself and walked out the door with him.


	5. Friends are More Important Then My Soulmate Apparently

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter talks about the attempted rape for a brief moment. It talks about what survivors think most of the time.

I walked up to my house with Percy trailing behind me. His face looked white as snow.

“You okay?” I asked him, looking up at him. His sea green eyes held obvious fear.

“I am just… Nervous. I mean I am about to meet some of the most important people in your life.” He nervously smiled down at me. I smiled back at him. I had the sudden urge to grab his hand and squeeze it. I held back myself because I hardly knew him and just because we were soulmates, doesn’t mean we have to speed into this. I reached for my key and started to unlock the door. The door swung open and Piper’s hand grabbed onto my forearm. She ripped me into the house.

“Sorry dude! This is girl time!” and slammed the door in Percy’s shocked face. 

“Holy shit guys!” I shouted, “What the hell?” I followed Piper into the living room. Hazel and Bianca sat on their sleeping bags on the floor. “Did you guys sleep here?”

“Only Bianca and I.” Hazel said, “Piper was off with her boy. She got here a couple hours ago.” Piper sat down on the floor and patted the space next to her. I sighed and sat next to her. 

“So… How was your night? Did you guys do the do? You seemed really drunk and upset when you left.” Everyone was looking at me, ready to hear all the juicy details. I wanted to start off telling them about Scar Face, but then I stopped. What if it was my fault that he attacked me? Maybe I had talked to him earlier in the night and lead him on. I decided not to tell them that part and started to tell them how Percy had found me walking home and then how I puked on him. Everyone started dying of laughter. Hazel had started snorting because she was laughing so hard.   
“That would be how you would meet your person.” Bianca laughed out. I joined in with the laughter.

“So, Piper how did your night go?” I asked her. I just wanted to direct all attention away from me.

“Well,” Piper started, getting a stupid grin on her face, “It was your person’s blond friend we saw. I was dancing with Bianca when I did a spin around. And there he stood. We made eye contact and both looked at our wrist. When I saw mine was at zero and looked up; He had already ran over to me and swept me in his arms. Then he kissed me, and it felt like fireworks. Then we went back to his place and well let’s just say, consummated our love.” I looked at everyone sitting here and they all looked so happy for Piper. Piper had been ignored by her father all her life and it was so great to see her happy. 

I wrapped my arms around her and said, “I am so happy for you Piper.” She squeezed me back. She let go of me and started to stand up.

“Well, I should get back to Jason. We have a lot of catching up to do.” She waved to all of us. When she got to the door she said, “Okay, Percy. You can come in now. I’ll tell Jason you said hi.” And she walked out the door. Percy walked through the door and looked around until he found me. As soon as his eyes laid on me, he smiled. I felt my heart skip another beat. I walked over to Percy and pulled him into the living room.

“Guys, this is Percy. Percy, this is Hazel and Bianca.” He stretched out his hand and shook both of theirs.

“We will leave you two be,” Hazel said to us. Hazel and Bianca walked out the door.

“So.. You met my friends now.” I said to him, “Want to sit down?” I gestured my hand to the couch.

“Sure.” He followed me over to the couch and sat down. “So, Piper is with my friend Jason now?”   
“I guess so. That is so weird that her and I ended up with another set of friends.” I looked over to his hand and was filled with the urge to grab it again. I started to reach over when I stopped myself. “Percy, I think we should set some ground rules.” 

Percy raised his eyebrow and looked at me, “Ground rules?”

“Yes, ground rules.” I stood up and looked down at him. “One: We will be taking this slow. I do not care that you are apparently my soulmate. I want to makes sure this is not a mistake.” He nodded showing that he was listening, “Number two. We continue to live at separate houses. Three: We do not have to see each other everyday. Just because we are soulmates does not mean we have to be with each other everyday, all day. You got it?”

He stood up, towering over me, “Got it Wise Girl.” He smiled. God, that smile wanted to make me break every single rule I had just set up. I gathered myself together and put both hands on my hips.

“Why do you get to have a nickname for me? Now I get to come up with one for you.” 

He laughed, “I do not think you could come up with a good enough one.” 

I squinted at him, furring my eyebrows together, “You know what? I am going to call you Seaweed Brain because I am pretty sure that is all that is in your head.” He started laughing even hard.

“Wow, I was wrong. You did make a good one!” I relaxed my stance and smiled at him. “That one is way too good. I wish I had thought of it myself.”

“Glad to know I can one up you in nicknames. Now,” I started to walk towards the door. Gratefully, he followed. “I think it is time for you to go. I need to shower and check up with my mom.” I opened the door and he started out the door. Then a thought came into my head. “Wait! How do I contact you? I don’t have your phone number.”

“You aren’t much of a Wise Girl are you?” He laughed, “I put it in your phone when I was charging it.” and he walked out of the door to his car. Then my heart felt like it was longing for him. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.


	6. Mother Usually Knows Best

I went up to my room and flopped down onto my bed. This had been such a long 24 hours, I did not even want to get up. I curled into a ball underneath my comforter and let all the memories go through my head. My mind always went to Percy. His gorgeous green eyes kept going across my mind. The way he laughed rang through my ears. Somehow he knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. Every time I thought of him, my heart started beating faster. How could this already be happening. We just met less than 12 hours ago. How am I already so in love with him? Well, not in love with him. I just like him very much. There is no way I am in love with him. Among all my thoughts, I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in.” I groaned from underneath the covers. I heard the door open and someone sat at the end of my bed. I peeked up from under the covers and saw my mother sitting at the end. My mother was a beautiful woman with raven black hair and cold grey eyes. She says I get my blonde hair from my father. I never got to meet my father because he went off to war and was killed before I was born. My mom only has a couple pictures of him around. 

“How was last night?” She pulled the covers off of me. I grabbed them, and pulled the covers back on me. “What is he like? Come on you have to tell your mother.” She carefully pulled the covers back off me and I sat up. 

“He was something else. He happened to be this guy that I had seen at a restaurant earlier that night.” I started to play with the covers.

“How did you meet him?” She was very good at getting answers out of people. My mother was a lawyer so she was great at planning attack questions.

“Well,” I debated what to tell my mother, but then remembered I was 18 so there wasn’t a lot she could do besides scold me. “Piper drove us to a frat party. They made me do 18 shots for my birthday, then…” I trailed off deciding whether or not to tell my mom about Scar Face. I decided against it because I felt ashamed and she already knew I was drinking. “I decided I need to go home so I started to walk when he grabbed my arm, I turned around, saw my wrist and puked on his shoes.” My mother started to laugh. She was laughing so hard she was snorting. My mother may be beautiful but she has an ugly laugh. Not that I can say much because I have the same laugh. I joined in her in laughing.

“Only my Annie would puke on her love.” She got her laughing under control. “So is he nice? What happened after that?” I told her how I had woken up at his house and met his mom. “I am glad he is a good boy and did not try anything on you.” She smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Now here is the real question, why are you not with him right now?”

I could feel redness creep up to my face, “Just because we are soulmates, does not mean we have to be with together every minute of everyday. We just met.” 

“That’s not what everyone else seems to think. Most people at least spend the first day together trying to get to know each other. Most people want to be with their soulmates.”

“What if we aren’t?” I shouted, frustrated. “What if our wrist were wrong and we are not right for each other? I want to take it slow. Is it so bad to not rush into this?”

“Sweetheart,” My mother put her arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “It is completely okay. I know this is new to you and it all doesn’t make sense. You take as much time as you need. If you are okay with this, do you want to invite him over with his parents for dinner?”

I took a minute, thinking about it. “Sure. You should probably meet him anyways if we are destined to be together.” 

“Well you better shower because you stink of puke.” And she got off of my bed and headed to the door. She turned back around. “Don’t worry Annie, everything will be alright tonight.” 

After she shut the door and went into my bathroom. I started the shower. I stripped out of Percy’s clothes. I went to go put them in my hamper and held back. His clothes smelled like him. I did not want to wash him out of them. I went over to my dresser and made a drawer just for them. Maybe I could hold onto his scent for a bit. And hey, I can just give them back to him when I want them to smell like him again.


	7. Fate is Real

When I got done with my shower, I walked over to my closet. I should try to look nice even though Percy’s mom had already seen me at my worst. I decided on a red dress that Piper and I had picked out at the mall.

“It is red. For the blood of your enemies.” Piper had said. 

I slipped into the dress. It fell at my knees and had sleeves down to my elbows. It wasn’t a fancy dress, but it was still nice. I grabbed my phone and sent a text to Percy.

My mom wants to invite you and your parents over for dinner tonight. Does that sound good to you?

I waited. After about a minute my phone buzzed and looked down at it.

I told you would miss me in only a few hours

I furiously typed on my phone.

I DO NOT MISS YOU. My mother just wants to meet you and your parents.

Another minute went by. Then another. I thought maybe I had hurt his feelings and was getting ready to send an apology text when my phone buzzed.

Whateva Wisegurl Ill see you @6

After I got over his lack of punctuation and his horrific spelling, I ran down the stairs to my mother. She was taking inventory of the kitchen trying to decide what we should have to eat tonight.

“Do you think spaghetti would be good?” She said as she held up a can of sauce, “Wait, you don’t want to have garlic breath when you kiss him.” She snorted and put the sauce down.

“Spaghetti would be great, Mom.” I said as I started to look for noodles. “That way he won’t want to kiss me.” I looked at the clock and saw it said 4:30pm. “I am going to run to the store to get the rest of what we need.” She wrote down all the things we would need and handed me the keys to the car. I hopped in and drove to the store.

When I got to the store, I went over to get a basket. I started to walk towards the food section of the supermarket. As I was walking, I got distracted by something and ran into someone.

“I am so sorry! I wasn’t look-” I looked up and it was Percy. I could not escape this fate no matter what. 

“Well, well,” Percy said putting his arms across his chest. “You just can’t get enough of me can you? You just have to follow me to the store.” 

“What if you are following me? Huh? Ever think of that?” I said defensively. I crossed my arms over my chest and stood taller. He was not going to win this.

“I have a feeling it is more of fate. After all, we are soulmates.” He grinned at me. “So, why has fate brought us here?” 

“I am picking up food for dinner tonight. So I have a reason. What is yours?”

“I was sent here to get a gift for you and your mother. So I am going to go on my way so you do not see your gift.” He stepped towards me and kissed me on my cheek. I felt the blood immediately rush to my face. “Later Annabeth.” And he walked off in the opposite direction I was heading. I felt stuck where I was. My hand made its way up to my cheek. I could not believe he had just kissed me on the cheek. What was he thinking? I turned around to maybe catch him and ask, but he was gone. I hurried on my way to get my food and leave this place. 

 

“You ready sweetheart?” My mom wrapped her arms around my shoulder. We were sitting on the couch, waiting for Percy and his mom to knock on the door. The table was all set up with the garlic bread smell filling the air. My mom broke out the nice china and good silverware. I could feel my hands shaking, but I held them together trying to keep them. My heart was pounding inside my chest. What was going to happen? What if Percy’s mom and my mom hate each other and do not want us to be together? So many things could go wrong and I am not prepared for most of them. The second the doorbell rang, I jumped out of my chair. 

“Jesus sweetheart!” My mother exclaimed as she jumped, “Calm down! Everything is going to be okay.” She walked over to the door and I trailed behind her. She opened the door and there stood Percy in a suit. I could feel my jaw drop. Percy never seemed the type to wear a suit but, damn. He looked great. He was even wearing a blue tie that brought out his eyes. I could see him staring at me too. I had put on makeup and put my hair up into a ponytail. Curls of course had still escaped the ponytail. I snapped back into reality and realized my mom and his were staring at both of us. 

“Oh! I am sorry! Come on in!” I held the door open as they both walked in, shut the door. I was about to introduce my mother and his when my mother started to talk.

“Sally Jackson? Oh my gosh, it has been years!” She wrapped Sally into a hug. 

“I did not realize Annabeth was your daughter! She looks more like her father!” Percy materialized by my side.

“Do you know what is happening right now?” He whispered to me. I could feel his hot breath against my neck and felt shivers go down my spine. I turned to him and stood on my toes to whisper into his ear.

“Maybe they were secret lovers way back when.” He gave me a side glance, trying not to crack a smile.

“Damn Annabeth. Didn’t know you had that dirty of a mind.” I giggled and turned back to our mothers. 

“So how do you two know each other?” I asked trying to figure out what was going on. 

Sally turned and looked at me, “Your fathers were friends and left for war together. They had known each other since they were 6 and even died together in the war. We use to hang out all the time before they died, but after the funerals, Athena moved out to NY with her baby. After a couple months, we lost touch.”

“We were both planning on being pregnant together and raising you two together, but Virginia held too many sad memories. So I left. Now I wish I hadn’t!” My mother glowed with happiness. “Now let’s go eat before the food gets cold!” 

“By the way, we brought some desert.” Percy held out a chocolate cake that looked so good. I could feel my mouth starting to drool.

I stopped my drooling and said, “Follow me. We can go put it into the kitchen for now.” I started to walk to the kitchen and heard him behind me. When we got to the kitchen I opened the fridge and he put it in there.

“Do you realize that we would have been soulmates sooner? If your mom had stayed we would have met sooner.” That was a scary thought. I was always happen that I got to live most of my life before meeting my person, but had I met him earlier? My life would be completely different. 

“I can’t believe we knew each other before we were born. When is your birthday then?” 

“Next month. August 18th. So you never met your father either?”

“No. I never got to. He died about a month before I was born. I guess the same time your father did too then. I am sorry about your father.”

“I am sorry about yours. How about we go eat now? They may think we are up to something in here.” I smacked his arm, but I was still smiling. We went and sat at the table with our mothers. Dinner was quite lovely. Our mothers would tell us stories about our fathers and what they use to do. They told us about what it was like to be pregnant with us. Then Sally started telling embarrassing stories of baby Percy. Like, about the one time he ran around the apartment complex, butt naked, waving his diaper above his head. I started laughing so hard that water almost shot out my nose. After dinner, our mothers looked at each other then my mother spoke up.

“We would like to catch up with each other. How about you two head up to Annabeth’s room and get to know each other?”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Sally interjected. They hustled us out of the dining room and watched us until I shut the door.

“It is almost like they are trying to get us to sleep together.” I laugh as I shut the door. I turn around and look at Percy. He had his hands in his pocket and was just staring at me. “What?”  
“You look beautiful.” Percy said smiling at me. It felt like his smile was so bright, I needed sunglasses to stare at him. 

“Percy... “

“Look, I know you have your rules and you don’t want to go to fast. But, Annabeth, I can not hold back these feelings. Most of the time I look at you, and I just want to sweep you into my arms and kiss you.” He took two steps to close the space between us. “I want to be near you always. My heart,” He put his hand over his chest, “hurts anytime I think about you. And it has been only a day. Please tell me I am not the alone in feeling this way.” I realized I had not been looking at him. I looked up into his green eyes. I wanted to tell him he was not alone. That I wanted to be near him always. I couldn’t do it though. I couldn’t get myself to admit my feelings. I walk over to my bed, sit down, and pat the seat next to me. He walked over and sat down.

“Look, I know I must seem crazy with how I am acting. I am just so afraid that this is going to somehow be wrong. I just want to get to know each other and then go from there. How about we start with some simple questions to get to know each other.” I looked around my room to find something to trigger a question. “What is your favorite type of music?”

“I really like movie soundtracks. Other than that I do not really listen to the radio. How about you?”

“I do not really listen to the radio either, but I really like Fall Out Boy. Other than that I listen to classical music. Or jazz.”

He smiled, “Okay, I have a question. What is your favorite movie?”

“My favorite movie is Heathers. I just love the symbolism and what it focuses on.”

“That is a pretty good movie, but my favorite is Guardians of the Galaxy. I use to read the comics and I always related to Star-Lord. All the kids would make fun of me for my dyslexia and ADHD, so when he discovered he was part alien, I would dream I was too. I never knew my father but I always thought he would be an alien and that would explain everything.” I looked at him and the next thing I knew, I was kissing him. I kissed him like I was trying to suck all the sadness out of his life. His lips were soft, but were urgent. I fought to pull myself off and look at him. His eyes showed happiness spilling out of them. “What was that for?” he smiled at me his bright smile. 

“For being so adorable.” And I grabbed onto his hand and stood up. I pulled him close to me and said, “Let’s go back down before our mothers get suspicious.” I kissed him again and pulled him out of my room.


	8. Who Needs Shirts?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This goes into what it is like when you come face to face with your assaulter after you finally feel like you were better.

After that night, Percy and I saw each other every night. That kiss had open a whole new door. We mostly spent time talking about each other. Asking about each other’s past. I have told him almost everything about my past and he has told me about his. The only thing I did not open up about is what happened the day we met. I could not tell him about that. I was still so embarrassed that I had let that happen. I am assuming he has told me everything. Most of the time when we would talk we would lay on each other’s beds and hold hands. No, we haven’t done anything yet. That kiss was the farthest we had gone. We haven’t even shared another kiss. Only pecks on each other’s cheeks. Tonight we were going out with Piper, Jason, Hazel, Piper, Bianca, Jason’s sister Thalia and Thalia’s person. I had met Thalia once, but since then she had met her person. We were meeting at Jason and Thalia’s house because they were the only ones that live on their own. Percy picked me up in his blue minivan. 

“You have a mom mobile?” I laughed as I got into the car. His car was a hot mess. There was empty Coke bottles everywhere. “Okay, never mind this does not look like a car a mom would drive.” He glared at me, but smiled.

“Shut up. It was the only blue car on sale. I tend to live out of this car in the summer for work.” 

I laughed and he drove off to the house. On the way there, we listened to the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. Percy had really gotten me into movie soundtracks. Sometimes, it was like listening to the radio, but hearing songs that would never be on and no commercials. We pulled into the driveway. It looked like everyone was already here. We parked the car and started to walk up to the door. Percy knocked and we were answered with Piper at the door.

“Hey guys! Come on in!” I hugged Piper on the way in, “It has been way too long Annabeth. We need a girls night soon.” Percy went over and high fived Jason. I grabbed onto Piper’s hand.

“Totally. Next weekend we should.”Piper squeezed my hand excitedly. She pulled me into the living room when I saw him. It was Scar Face. He was sitting with his arm around Thalia. As soon as I laid eyes on his scar, I could feel my lunch making it’s way up my throat. I saw him make eye contact with me and he smiled. He fucking smiled at me. “Um.. Piper. Where is the bathroom?” She pointed down the hall and ran to it. As soon as I got in there, I locked the door and kneeled in front of the white toilet bowl. I felt like I was going to throw up, but nothing was making it’s way out of my body. I curled up into a ball onto the floor and started to cry. I cried because I was starting to relive that moment over and over again. I felt his slimy hands, making their way up my skirt. I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he tried to take my dress off of me. In the midst of all the memories, I heard a knock on the door. 

“Annabeth? Are you okay?” I heard Percy say from the door. I realized I had to get up and refrain from making a scene. I stood up, walked over to the sink and washed my face in cold water. I opened the door and Percy stood there with a worried look on his face, “Are you okay?”

“Never better.” I managed to muster a smile on my face. It didn’t look like he was buying it, but he grabbed my hand and walked with me to the room. Everyone was laughing about a joke Frank had said when Percy and I entered. Hazel, Frank, and Bianca were on the full couch. Thalia and Scar Face sat on the loveseat. Jason and Piper were on the floor so we made our way over to there. 

“Annabeth,” Jason said, “This is Luke. He and Thalia just met.” 

“Pleased to meet you Annabeth.” Luke reached across to give me a hand shake. He had this wide grin on his face. I grabbed his hand quickly then retreated back to Percy. I grabbed ahold of his hand and held on tightly. 

For the rest of the night, while we ate dinner, talked, and played games, I could not keep my eyes off of Luke. I kept staring him down. He obviously remembered me because of the way he would look at me. Shivers would go down my spine and I never relaxed. Not until Percy suggested we leave. When Percy and I got to the car after saying good bye, we sat in silence. Percy decided to break it.

“What is wrong? You have been acting really weird all night.” Percy looked over at me, worry etched into his face. “You can tell me anything. What happened?” 

I didn’t make eye contact with him, knowing that as soon as I looked at him I would break. “Nothing is wrong. My stomach just does not feel well. Can we go back to my place now please?” Percy nodded and we drove in silence. When we got to my home, he was going to kiss me on the cheek and let me go when I surprised him. “Can you come in with me? My mom is on a business trip and if I really am sick, someone should be here.” 

“Sure thing. Let me tell my mom.” He texted Sally and then helped me get out of the car. We went inside and headed up to my room. I started to get together pajamas for me when he asked, “Where should I sleep?” I looked at him, stunned that he wasn’t asking to share a bed with me. Of course, I wanted him to though. I wanted him near me so if the nightmares I know are coming show up, he is there for me.

“You can share with me, if that is all right.” I reached for the drawer with his shirt and sweatpants in it. “Here, you can use these to sleep in.” I threw them at him.

“I was wondering where these went. But, if it is all right, I sleep shirtless. Is that okay?” I nodded at him and he stripped out of his shirt. Now when you would look at Percy with clothes on, you would never think he is muscular. But, underneath, he was very toned. Not as much as Jason was, but enough to look great shirtless. I slipped into the bathroom so I could change into my pajamas. When I went back into my room Percy was in my bed already. I turned off the lights and crawled into the bed next to him. I felt his arm go around my waist and pull me into his chest. I sighed into him and could feel tears spring into my eyes. It felt so good to be held. I felt him kiss me on my head. I closed my eyes, feeling as safe as some could possibly be. I immediately fell deeply into sleep.


	9. Return of the Burger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This deals with a dream of the attempted rape and talks about trying to tell someone about it.

I was back at that frat house from my birthday. Noise was blaring from every corner of the house. I started stumbling up the stairs, the hall spinning dramatically. I went into a room that I thought was the bathroom. That is when I saw Luke laying across the bed already naked. I turned to get out of the room, but the door was locked. I shook the door harder and harder trying to get it to open. I turned back to the bed and came face to face with Luke. He had a scary grin on his face. It looked like the Joker from Batman. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. Luke grabbed my arms and pinned them against the wall. He started putting his mouth all over my body. I felt frozen. I felt like just giving in until I felt myself being shook and heard Percy shouting my name in the distance. I gasped away, my body covered with sweat. 

“Are you alright? Annabeth talk to me!” Percy’s voice shook as he helped me sit up. 

“I am fine.” I said shaking him off. “Just a nightmare. What happened?” 

“You just started shaking and screaming.” Percy sat about a foot away from me looking scared to touch me.”You were screaming no and don’t touch me. I was afraid you wouldn’t wake up. What happened? What did you dream about?” He reached for my hand and tried to grab hold. I instinctively ripped it away from him. I held my hand to my chest trying to keep from shaking. 

“It was just a typical bad dream. It is nothing Percy. Could you go get me some water though?” Percy nodded and headed down to the kitchen. As soon as he left the room, I broke. Tears started streaming out of my eyes. I started to let myself shake and cry. I just need to tell Percy what happened. I just need for him to know what has happened. I decided I would tell him as soon as he came back up. I wiped the tears from my eyes. He appeared in the doorway holding a glass of water. Just as I was about to say what the dream was, I couldn’t find my voice. I couldn’t find a way to tell him. Everything went back down inside of me and my courage went away. How could I tell him? I did not want him to think anything less of me. He crossed over to my bed and sat down next to me.

“Are you sure you are okay? That did not seem like a typical bad dream.” He handed me the water. I gulped it down in about 3 gulps.

“I am sure Percy,” I could feel my voice shake as I was talking, “My dreams are a lot more vivid than most dreams. The good ones are nicer that way.” I managed to fake a smile on my face. I could feel my heart start racing and it jumping into my throat. I felt the panic start settling inside of me. I tried to take deep breaths to slow down my heart, but it was not working. Luckily, it seemed that Percy was buying my story. 

“If you are absolutely sure Annabeth.” He reached for my hand and I thought the urge to flinch away. “What would you like to do today Wisegirl?” He smiled at me and I felt my heart jump, but in a good way. I smiled back at him, this time it was not fake.

“How about we go on a real date? Not at each other’s house, but dinner and a movie.” 

His smile widen even further. “I would love to do that. I am going to go home then and get changed. Pick you up around 6?” I nodded. He got up, kissed me on the forehead, picked up his things and left. I heard the downstairs door shut and I collapsed into my bed. I rolled over and grabbed my laptop. I powered it up and pulled up Google. I typed in the search bar, “How do you live with sexual abuse?” I clicked enter and scrolled through the results. I found a Tumblr blog that was dedicated to people talking about their abuse. I read through story after story. I had read through at least 100 stories when I glanced at my clock and noticed that it was 5 o’clock.

“Aw, shit!” I closed my laptop and ran to the bathroom. When I was in the shower, I thought of how much better I felt knowing I was not alone. That there were people out there who had similar stories as I did. Maybe I didn’t need to tell Percy to feel better. Maybe I just needed similar people to talk to. I got out of the shower and walked over to my closet. I should probably wear something somewhat nice. I decided on jeans and a flowy blue blouse. I decided to leave my hair down in wet curls. I decided to put on some of mascara and foundation. When I looked in the mirror after I had finished getting ready. For once, my blonde curls seemed under control. My grey eyes seemed to pop thanks to the mascara. For the first time in a long time, I felt good. 

 

“You ready Annabeth?” I heard Percy call from the front door.

“2 seconds!” I called down to him. I was finishing submitting my story to the blog I had found.   
“1. 2.”

“Percy, I swear to God Almighty I will come down there in slap you for counting down.”

“Will it be in 2 seconds? Or are you going to lie again?” I could hear his smile in his voice. I felt myself smile wider and let out a laugh. I closed my laptop and ran down the stairs. I skidded to a halt in front of him.

“See? 2 seconds.” I went on my tip toes and kissed him on the nose. “So what is the plan tonight?”

“I was thinking dinner at Half-Blood then maybe go see the latest superhero movie? I remembered you mentioning you liked those types of movies.” 

I smiled up to him, “That sounds perfect.” He opened the door and made the hand gesture, “after you”. I walked out the door and he followed.

We sat down at the restaurant and the waiter handed us our menus. I started looking at it immediately looking at the burgers. That is when Piper’s voice entered into my brain.

“Annabeth, do you NOT remember what I said? DO NOT ORDER A BURGER!” It felt like she was literally shouting it in my ear. I looked over my menu at Percy. 

“So, what do you plan on ordering?” I asked him. 

“Uh… I was thinking about getting a.... burger.” He did not look totally convinced in this choice. “What about you?”

“Um.. I was thinking a Caesar Salad.” I said to him feeling self-conscious.

“That sounds really good.” So we placed our order and then started talking about superheroes.

“See, Captain America is my favorite because I appreciate his history and how he is figuring out that the government is corrupt. He learns that it is not the same as it was back then.” I took a sip of my coke. “Also, his movie has the best set of all of them.”

“My favorite is the Flash.” Percy smirked at me.

“Really? The Flash has one of the dumbest super powers ever. All he can do is run fast.”

“On the contrary, dear Annabeth. In the TV show, he time travels, creates lightning and sucks fire out of buildings.”

“Okay, but that can’t be the reason you like him the best.”

“You are correct Annabeth. I like him because he feels the most real to me. He is given this amazing gift and at first he cannot come to terms with it. But, as soon as he does, all he does is want to save the city. He tries to atone for his mother’s death. He was also there for me when I was having a rough time as a kid.” I could not help but be amazed at the way he spoke. He spoke with such confidence and sounded like he had to defend himself on this all the time.

“So,” I said looking him in the eyes, “You would like to be a hero then?”

He smiled at me. “Someday maybe do something heroic. Like take a bullet for someone.”

I reached across the table and hit him on the arm. “You are not taking a bullet for someone!”

He rubbed his arm where I had hit him. “I think you are falling for me Wisegirl.” He had the widest smile on his face. I rolled my eyes at him. Our food finally came and we were about to dig in. I started just playing with my salad eyeing Percy’s burger. Percy picked up the burger with a disgusted look and made eye contact with me.

“Annabeth, I am going to be completely honest here. I only ordered a burger because my friend said that you had to order a burger because it makes your more manly. I actually hate beef with a passion.”

“Wait really? I ordered a salad because Piper said you had to order a salad to have a light meal! I love burgers!”

He looked so relieved and placed the burger on the plate. “Well, it is a good thing I love salad.” And he grabbed our plates and switched them. We devoured each other’s food. After that we headed to the movie, but I did not pay attention too closely. I could not stop thinking about how I was actually falling for Percy. This is crazy! I have only known him for maybe little over a month. I know we are technically soulmates, but I never expected him to be like this. I never pictured myself actually liking my soulmate this much. It is not that we are even alike. We are far from it. For some reason, though, he keeps me sane. He actually makes me feel happy. When we got back to my house after the movie, he walked me up to my door.

“Well thank you for such a great night.” I said looking up into his sea green eyes.

“You make it really easy to make it a great night.” And he bent down and kissed me on the lips. He lingered there for about half a minute. Then he backed away smiling, and headed to his car. And I was left there in awe of how in love with him I was.


	10. Chicken Pile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took so long and is so short! Writers block had a hard hold on me. Hopefully next one will be longer and better.

It was time to leave for college. I was packing up the rest of my room when I decided to sit reading the sexual abuse blog. I had gotten some feedback from someone telling me that my story was not uncommon. That this is the story of a lot of rape victims. They told me that all the feelings of closure and not thinking you can tell someone is so common. That is why so many stories go unreported. They gave me a hotline I can call to report it, but then I just closed my laptop. I cannot report him. I know I will never not see him now. He was too connected to our group of friends. If I told Percy, he would demand that Luke not to show up to anything. So that would make Thalia not come and then Jason would be pissed at Percy. Piper follows in Jason’s steps and Hazel, Frank, and Bianca would follow the larger group. Telling Percy would screw everything up. I want to say Luke planned all of this, but how the hell would he know? I heard a knock on my door.

“Come in!” I yelled setting my laptop to the side. Percy walked in wearing a Flash TShirt.

“I am here to be of service my lady.” He did a little bow towards me. I laughed and went over to him. I got on my tip toes, grabbed him around the neck, and kissed him. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer. When I let go, I wanted to so badly say I love you to him. I have not let it slip yet. I think he is waiting for me to be ready to say it. I understand that we are soulmates and everything, but it is still a big thing to say. There is so much behind an I love you. There are so many feelings that would be let loose from the three little words. Saying them is basically admitting that you want to spend the rest of your life with them. I am only 18 and now I have this person that supposedly I am spending the rest of my life with. I am very glad Percy hasn’t pushed the I love yous. I think this shows that he really does love me. I hope it hasn’t hurt him too much that I haven’t said it to him yet. I feel like the Luke thing has such a hold on me that I can’t show my feelings. I am afraid that if I get close to him he will betray me. I love you has to much power. Saying it to someone means you want to tell this person everything and want them to know everything. I can’t do that. 

“I am such a chicken.” I said dropping my hands to his waist.

“Why?”

“Because I can’t say I love you to you.” I broke my gaze from him. I looked at my ratty old converse that I was wearing. 

“Annabeth-”

“No. It has to hurt so much that we are suppose to be soulmates yet I can’t even say it. I am such a loser.”

“Annabeth,” he tilted my chin up so he could look at me, “I would wait 10 years for you to say it. I just want you to say it when you think the time is right.” And that is when I started crying. I fell into his chest and just cried. I cried because I couldn’t tell Percy I loved him. I cried because the last 2 months, I always see Luke and relive everything. And Percy held me. He held me for the next 5 minutes as I cried. As soon as I finished, I looked up at him.

“What did I do to deserve you?”

“You got drunk one night and threw up on me. Even if we weren’t destined to be together, I would still have fell for you. Now let’s continue to get you packed. We have to be moved in by 3 today.”

 

It had to have been a coincidence that Percy and I both were going to NYU. We were going to live in the same dorm building. We had decided against getting an apartment because I still wanted my space. Piper and I were roommates living on the 2nd floor of the building. Percy and Jason have to live on the 5th floor. Those poor souls. At least they will be getting exercise everyday. Percy and Jason were helping us move in first. Piper’s mom and mine were jumping around trying to organize everything in our room. 

Piper leaned over to whisper in my ear, “We are totally moving this all around tonight right?”

I laughed and whispered back, “Of course we are. We just have to somehow get them to leave.”

“I got this.” Piper turned towards our mothers, “Hey, guys I think it’s time for us to go help the guys.”

“Sure thing honey,” Piper’s mom said, “But, I need a picture first! This is such a milestone!”

“What a great idea Aphrodite! Okay girls, get together!” I grabbed Piper around the waist and she put her arm around mine. We both put big smiles on our face and our mothers snap the picture. My mom sent it to me over messenger and I opened it. Piper and I were wearing matching NYU shirts and looked so happy. Piper looked so beautiful even in such a grungy outfit. She could pull off any look. Jason is a very lucky guy. I am so glad she is so happy with him. I am glad she can admit that she loves him while I can’t even tell Percy.

“This is a great picture.” Piper smiled looking over my shoulder. “Let’s go upstairs and help the boys. They are going to need someone to organize their stuff.” I put my phone in my pocket. We kissed our mothers good-bye and ushered them out of the room. We headed down the hall and up the stairs. As soon as we got to their room, we were met with a huge mess. It was like a tornado had blown through their room, destroying everything in it’s path. 

“Holy shit.” Piper let out in a gasp. We looked around the room and could not find either one. 

“Piper! Where are you?” Jason’s voice called from the mountain of boxes and clothes. Percy popped out from behind where I am assuming is his bed area. Jason appeared from behind a wardrobe.

“What the hell happened in here?” Piper asked, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“We are unpacking, duh.” Percy shouted from the pile. He jumped over the boxes and landed next to my side. “Hey beautiful.” He kissed me on the cheek and I blushed. 

“Looks like you guys could use some help sorting.” I laughed.

“Go ahead, pick where we start.” Percy said, “Or better yet, I’ll throw you and that where we will start.” And he picked me up into his arms and tossed me into a pile of clothes. Then, he jumped next to me, laughing his head off. I started laughing and shouted at him over the laughing of Piper and Jason.

“I guess this is where we are starting.”


	11. Worst Lunch Ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Attempted Rape and PTSD in this chapter

For the whole first weekend was orientation. We spent a lot of time with the people on our floors and not a lot of time with anyone else. Bianca, Hazel and Thalia lived in a different hall so the only time we were able to see them was at lunch. Luke and Frank are Percy’s suitemates so we see them whenever we see Percy and Jason. Piper and I grabbed a table at the dining hall for all of us. Luke walked in and immediately saw Piper. She waved so he walked over to the table. 

“Hey girls.” He said, giving Piper and I, a wink. Piper started giggling uncontrollably when he walked towards the food. 

“Jeez, Piper. Try to cool it. You remember Jason?” I tried to force a laugh out of me, but it came out more of a croke. 

“I can’t help it! Thalia definitely got really lucky! I mean just look at those eyes and his ass-”  
“Okay, okay. Enough Piper.” I said just to cut her off. I started stuffing food in my mouth to try to stop myself from saying anything else. Piper got up to go look at the dessert and Luke came back over and sat right across from me. A smile curled onto his face, making his scar look more evil than it already does. I stare at him, glaring, hoping he will pick up my signals to leave. He looks at me with his mouth stuffed and starts talking to me.

“What is wrong Annabeth? Why you glaring at me like that?” A smug look appeared across his face, making his blue eyes shine with fake curiousness. 

“I think you know exactly why I am.” I continued to stare him down while choking down my own vomit. I could feel my heart rate start to skyrocket. He was thinking of raping me. He was going out with a friend. His stare sent chills down my spine. He got up out of his chair and made his way over to me. He leaned over to my ear, “Baby, you think that clock on your’s and my wrist will stop me? You have another thing coming.” He continued to walk and I felt frozen. I felt as if the blood in my body had stopped flowing blood and was flowing ice. Cold, ice, sea water. Stood up shaking and started walking back to my room. I passed all my friends in the hall, but voices muddled together. I felt Percy’s hand go around my waist and I shuddered it off. I continued to walk and felt his presence walking behind me. I got to my room and unlocked the door. The minute I got inside, I ran to the bathroom. As soon as I was in front of the toilet, my knees fell to the ground and my stomach emptied every content that was it. When everything had left my system, I walked back into the room. Percy was standing there, his face contorted with so much worry an unhealthy man would have had a heart attack. I walked past him and laid in my bed. 

“Annabeth, what happened?” Percy’s voice shook as he talked. I continued to look at the wall. “Please Annabeth, talk to me. Why won’t you talk to me?” I felt his hand rest on my shoulder and I shrugged him off. 

“Please do not touch me.” He took back his hand. 

“Annabeth, what can I do for you? Please answer me.” His voice strained. He sounded like he was going to cry. The only thing that I could think of to say to him was,

“Leave.”

And I heard the door slam as soon as he left. 

 

“She hasn’t left that bed unless it was for class for a week.”Piper told Percy. My back was to them because I was pretending to be sleeping. “She won’t eat, she won’t speak. Percy, I do not know what to do.” Piper was being strong. She was trying to take care of me, but every time I would refuse, I felt her hope drain. I hear the door shut and a chair being dragged to my bedside. One of them sits down in it and opens a book. 

“I do not know why you will not talk.” Percy is the one in the chair. Percy decided to stay. “But, that does not mean I can not sit here and talk to you.” And he sat there for an hour telling me about his week. He told me about how him and Jason had gone to the gym to exercise and then decided to just sit and watch TV. He talked about his classes. He talked about how he wanted to switch majors maybe to film. Then, the minute he mentioned Luke’s name, I shuddered.

“Ah ha! You are having a problem with Luke! Annabeth please talk to me.” He gently turned me to face him. For the first time in a week, I met his sea green eyes. God, how I had missed those eyes. I could see wrinkles starting to set because of worry. I decided to end it. I sat up in my bed and patted for him to sit beside me. He jumped up and sat down. I looked at him, and I started telling him everything. I told him about Luke, my birthday, the party, and last week. His eyes kept getting bigger and bigger until they became anime eyes. Then, fury set in his face. 

“Annie, why did you not tell me sooner?” He was sitting a little apart from me. It was enough distance to know he did not want to touch me. Afraid he would break me.   
“I- I didn’t know how to tell you. I was afraid you would not like me and want to leave me. That I was going to be ruined.” Tears started to escape my eyes. They rolled down my face, heading to my shirt. He kept looking at me. Just staring into my eyes. I would give anything to know what he was thinking. After a minute of silence, he finally spoke.

“Annabeth, I do not think you are ruined. I think you are someone who has been so strong.” He reached across the void and grabbed my hand, “So strong and I cannot believe you would keep this. Although, I understand why. But, God, how hard has it been for you? He has been at everything. Is that why you cried the first time I met him?” I nodded. “Dammit. I cannot believe that son of a bitch. Look, we never have to see him again okay? I can find someway for us to never see him. It will be alright.” He was crying. His eyes shone with tears. I reach toward his face to wipe the tears. Then I leaned forward and kissed him. I kissed him to show him how much I love him. How he can make me whole again. I kept kissing him until he pulled away for a breath and looked me in the eyes filled with love.

“Annabeth, I love you.” 

“I love you too Percy.” and he grabbed me and started to kiss me more.


	12. Not Such a Sexy Bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Rape Blog is mentioned

September 10th Annabeth’s Blog Post

After telling Percy, I felt so much better. He said that he would not do anything unless I asked him too. I told him it would not be necessary because now that he knew I felt so much better. He asked if I had told anybody else about this and I had to say no. I did not tell him about the blog. I want this to just be my little secret. Not to worry about other people seeing this and knowing who I am. I am not sure if I will ever tell anyone else. I do not want my life to fall apart. I am afraid that if I tell, everyone is going to leave me. Everyone loves Luke. Everyone thinks he is the sweetest and best person. I do not want to lose all of my friends. I feel like they would all choose him over me. At least I have Percy. God, he is the greatest. I am so glad that I finally told him I love him. I mean we are soulmates. I should have been able to say it to him the minute I puked on his shoes. I have always been sceptical of this clock on my wrist. I did not believe time could really be planned out to meet the person you love. I honestly never believed in love at all. My mother was single, I never grew up with seeing her in love. I thought if there really was love, they would not have taken away my father. Why is fate so cruel? I imagine fate being this old lady who dramatically cuts yarn right before your eyes signaling the end. Fate cuts the string when you die, but I also feel like fate ties knots in everyone’s string. The knots are the obstacles that come in our way. The tighter the knot, the harder you have to work at untying it. I think this Luke knot is starting to come untied where I will finally be able to move past the knot. 

User: HKid1997  
I really liked your knot reference. It was well explained. I have been following your blog since it started. You have great writing skills.

User: WiseGirl6  
Thanks so much! I am so glad you like what I put. It is nice to escape real life and come here. 

 

“Annabeth! Let me in!” Percy started to jiggle the door. I shut my laptop and jumped off my bed. I swung the door open and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him. He pulled away trying to look into my eyes. His sea eyes held so much happiness that it made me feel butterflies in my stomach. That is when he let out an “Ah.”

“What?” I said smiling ear to ear.

“I can always tell when you are happy. Your eyes go from a stormy grey to almost clear sky blue. I love it when that happens.” He leaned in for another kiss and he got one. 

 

“I honestly do not understand what I am going to do with American History in my job.” Percy complained as books were spread across my side of the room. I was perched on my bed with a Calculus book in front of me while Percy was sprawled on the floor. 

“Well if you go into the film industry, you are going to want to be historically accurate for whatever you do.” I said not even looking up from my book. “Imagine doing a Civil War movie and not even knowing who won.” Percy stood up and leaned in front of my face.

“It was the Confederates wasn’t it?” 

“You disgust me.” I laughed as he kissed me. I put my hand on his face, carefully memorizing every detail of his jaw line. He grabbed me around my waist and pulled me closer to the edge of the bed. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he started to kiss my neck. That is when he made the stupidest decision probably in his life. He threw every single textbook that was on my bed onto the floor. I pulled away from him, holding his face away from me.

“What?” He said innocently.

I glance over at the textbooks scattering the floor. “What did you think you were doing?”

“It’s romantic.”

“Those all together cost $300.”

“Everyone does it.”

“Yeah when they are about to get some in an office and are throwing the girl onto the desk.”  
“Oh.”

“You watch how many tv shows and you didn’t know that?”

“I thought it would be cute.”

I looked into his eyes and smiled. “It was very cute. But, never do it again.”

“Deal.” And he started to kiss me more while I was scowling at him. 

 

When Piper walked into the room, textbooks were everywhere. It was ground zero for studying. Percy and I had fallen asleep after I helped him study for biology when I heard Piper come into the room. I sleeply said to her, “I am so sorry for the mess.” 

Piper smiled at me, “It is fine Annabeth.” I got off my bed and started to pick up the books. Piper placed her backpack on her chair and glanced over at Percy. “So, are you finally happy? Have you finally accepted her is perfect for you?”

I put the books on to the shelves. I looked over my shoulder at her, “Yeah, I have.” I turned back towards her and leaned against the desk. “I really love him.”

“Good.” Piper said as she walked closer to me. “Now, have you done it yet?”

“You mean tell him I love him? Yeah, I did last night.”

“Annabeth you are so naive.” Piper laughed as she shook her head at me. 

“What do you mean?”

“Annabeth, have you had sex yet?” I could feel my face start to turn as red as the sheets on Piper’s bed. She started laughing at me and said, “So I am taking that as a no.”

“I do not even know how I would possibly do that or bring it up!” I threw my hands up in frustration as Piper continued to laugh. 

“Well, you will know when it is the right time.” She smiled at me. “I will not push it any farther.” Putting her hands in the air like she was surrendering. 

“Thanks Pipe.” I pulled her in for a hug.

She whispered into my ear, “If you do decide, the condoms are in a drawer right next to my bed.” She pulled away giggling, grabbed her purse and headed out the door. That is when I heard laughing come from my bed. 

“How much of that did you hear?”

“Oh just enough to know where Jason keeps his condoms.” Percy said from under the sheets.


	13. Let's Talk About...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: PTSD Memories of the attempted rape

After my encounter with Piper, I asked myself Am I really ready to have sex? Sex was not just something I wanted to throw out there. I wanted it to be the right time. My only caution is I do not want to get pregnant. I am on the pill and Piper told me where the condoms were. I am just afraid that I am that 1% that will get pregnant. 

“Annabeth, you are crazy. If I am not pregnant yet, then you won’t get pregnant.” Piper would try to say to console me. Still, it was a scary thought. Even though I know we are destined to be together, it is still a huge thing. This is when you are your most vulnerable. This means that you are finally complete. You will have shared everything with this person. Everything will change after this. Around Percy and I’s 6 month anniversary in January, I decided it was time.

“So, what would you like to do for our anniversary?” Percy asked me the week before. We were in my room studying while Jason and Piper were making googly eyes at each other on her bed. 

Piper broke the gaze to glance over at me, “Ah yes. Our 6 month anniversary is this weekend too!” then she went back to gazing into Jason’s eyes. 

“I am not sure.” I said to Percy. When I looked over at him, he had this gleam in his eyes. “You already have something planned don’t you?”

His smirk grew on his face, “Well, my mom will be out of town so we can go back to the apartment. I can make you dinner and we can stay in and watch a movie. Does that sound nice?”  
“That sounds perfect.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss to show my appreciation. I am glad he had something ready because I had no clue what we could do. 

“You hear that Pipe? That means we get both our rooms all to ourselves.” He pulled her in for a kiss and of course they started making out right there. It was amazing to see Piper so happy, but also sickening. 

“Come on, let’s go to your room.” I grabbed my books and Percy’s hand, walking out of the dorm .

The next friday night was our anniversary. Piper was helping me get ready by trying to control my curly hair. She decided to pin it to the side where it was flowing over my right shoulder. She insisted that I wear this tight red dress that she had. I had to admit that I looked great in it. 

“God damn girl.” Piper said looking me up and down, “If I wasn’t dating Jason, I would totally go for you.” 

“You don’t look to bad either.” I laughed. Piper always looked beautiful. Her eyes were always the perfect shade and her hair the perfect length. Tonight, she was in a beautiful purple dress. It just ended right above her knees and curved her outline so well. “I do not think I could ever be as beautiful as you. It is like magic!”

“Annabeth, you look gorgeous. Now what do you have on underneath that dress?” 

“Well... “ I could feel my face getting warm, but I tried to remember Piper was just trying to help me. “I went out and got a red lacy thong and a matching bra.” Piper started to clap for me. I rolled my eyes and turned around to check my makeup in the mirror.

“So, do you think tonight will be the night?” Piper said from behind me. 

“I don’t know. Maybe?” I turned to her. She put her hands on my shoulders.

“No matter what, tonight will be a special night. Got it?”

“Got it.”

 

Percy and I agreed that we would meet at his house. So I hopped onto the bus and headed down to his home. When I got up to his door, right before I was going to knock, he swung open the door. He scanned me and his mouth dropped open. “Annabeth, you look so beautiful.” I blushed, then I took in a good look at him. He was drop dead gorgeous. His black hair was slicked to the side. He was in this handsome black suit with a green tie that brought out the green in his eyes. I could feel my mouth start to fall open so I decided it was time to speak. 

“You look very handsome.” Now it was his turn for his face to turn red. He step aside from the doorway, gesturing his arm inward. 

“Right this way m’lady. May I take your coat?”

“Sure thing sir.” I shrugged off my coat and he brought it to the closet. “So, what is the chef making for dinner tonight?”

“The chef has decided to make the first meal we ever had together. Blue pancakes with a hint of chocolate. It will be served with a fine milk called 2%.” I laughed and walked over to the table. Percy pulled out my chair and I sat down. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed the milk out of the fridge. “Milk ma’am?”

“I would love some sir.” He poured the milk into two wine glasses. After he put the milk back into the fridge, he joined me at the table. 

“Dinner is served.” And he lifted the lid off of the pancakes and my nose was invaded with the smell of pancakes and chocolate.

“These smell delicious Percy. Maybe there is something in that seaweed brain.” I said, reaching across the table and bopping him in the head. He grabbed my hand from the air, and planted a kiss on it. I smiled and leaned across the table and gave a kiss. I could feel him smile under my lips so it made me smile too. “Maybe we should eat.”

“That doesn’t sound as fun, but we shall.” We digged into our feast of blue pancakes. They tasted just as good as they had 6 months ago when he first made them for me. “Do you remember what we first talked about that day?”

“We talked about going to NYU and our favorite TV shows.” I said between bites. “You also refused to tell me your name when I woke up all confused of where I was.”

He started to laugh, “That is right. I thought it would be funny to let you squirm about who I was, but I decided against it for the best. Now that we are done with our food,” He said gesturing to the empty plates. “Would you like to watch a movie?” 

“I would love too. What movie are we watching tonight?” I asked, starting to put some of the dishes into the dishwasher. 

“I was thinking we could watch Heathers because that if your favorite movie.”

“Really? After we can watch Guardians.” He smiled and walked over to the TV to put in the movie. I walked over to the couch to sit. While his back was turned, I tried to sit in the sexiest pose I could think of. I tried the Titanic pose to start. When Percy sat down, he lifted me and put his arm around me. He cradled my head to his chest and I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. I couldn't figure out how to get this started. Do I make the first move or do I wait for him? Do I just start to kiss him? How do you know it is the right time? I turned my head upward to him. He was focused on the movie so I couldn't look at his eyes. So, I decided to memorize his jaw. How it curved so gently up to his ears. Then I looked at his ears. They were a little smaller than most, but they fit his head perfectly. Every part of him is perfect. Every part of him I love. That is when Percy looked down at me so I attacked. I attacked him with kisses so passionate that any romance actor would be jealous. I kissed every part of his face that I loved. His eyes. His lips. His ears. His jaw. His nose. His forehead. His hair. Percy picked me up and looked at me.

“Would you like to move this to the bedroom?” I nodded my head and continued to kiss him as he carried me to his room. When we got there, he gently laid me down on his bed. I ripped his shirt off and he slipped off my dress. “Annabeth, you look beautiful.” I pulled him in to kiss me. I was ready to do this. I was ready to have him. Until his hand. He started to run his hand up my leg and that is when I was thrown back to the party. I started to see Luke’s hand running up my dress. I felt Luke trying to take off my dress. I was pinned against the wall with his lips covering my body. I felt myself yell no and Percy roll off of me. I heard him ask over and over again if I was alright as laid curled in a ball. I felt the ghost of Luke’s hand feeling my body. I cried in the bed until I fell asleep. 

I woke up the next morning in Percy’s bed alone. I got up and saw his robe hanging on his door and put it on over me. I stood by the door frozen. I wasn’t sure what Percy was going to say. I took a deep breath and opened the door. Percy was sitting on the couch reading a comic book. I stood in the doorway until he looked up and saw me. He moved his comics over and pat the seat next to him for me to sit down. I sat down next to him, not making eye contact with him.

“Annabeth?”

“Yes?” I whispered.

“Do you want to talk about last night?” His voice strained with concern.

“Not really.”

“We will have to at some point.” 

“I know.”

“Okay.” Percy grabbed my hand, passed me a comic book and we read in silence.


	14. Not Everything Needs to be Down on One Knee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it has been so long! I have had a crazy semester and not much time to write! Hope you enjoy this little bit until I can right again!

Weeks went by without Percy and I talking about night. Every Time we would see each other, the conversation would go like this:

“Do you want to talk about that night?” Percy would ask.

“No.” I reply.

“Okay.” And we would move on to whatever we have planned for the day. I am glad he does not push me any farther. I am afraid that he thinks if he does I will break and never be able to be repaired. I know it is not fair to not tell him what happened. Okay.” And we would go back to whatever we were doing. This is how it would go for a whole month until he finally sat down next to me on my bed. “Annabeth, it is time to talk about it.” I knew it was time to tell him. So, I nodded while I continued to read my book. “Annabeth, if you were not ready to go that far, we didn’t have too. You could have talked to me about it. I wouldn’t want to push you to do anything you did not want to do Annabeth.”

I looked up at him, seeing the concern. He really did believe he had pushed me to far and that it was all his fault. “Percy, it is not your fault. You did nothing wrong. It’s my fault. I started to imagine Luke from that night and couldn’t stop it. I just saw his hands rubbing up me. I do not know what is wrong with me.”

“There is nothing wrong with you.” He gently laid his hand on to my shoulder. “It is called PTSD, Annie. Whenever my father came home before he passed, he would tell me sometimes he would wake up with such bad night terrors. He would reach for whatever was in reach and swing it around like it was a knife. It isn't just war that gives people these attacks either. It is anything that is traumatic to the person. Like sexual assault. It is going to make you experience things and you won’t know what to do.” I could feel my jaw open, “Don’t look at me that way. I did my research. You were worrying me too much for me not to do anything.” He raised his hand up to my face. 

“I think I am broken.” I said feeling tears roll down to his hand. “I think I am broken beyond repair.”

“Don’t worry.” He smiled, “That is why I have the tape and glue.” 

 

A month passed without too much happening. Percy didn't try to push me further than making out and I didn't try to push my boundaries. Anytime we were going somewhere that Luke would be at, Percy would not leave my side. He made sure I was never alone with Luke. Classes were going well for both Percy and I. About two weeks before spring break, I was at my house to visit my mom for the weekend and study without any interruptions. I had my Intro to Journalism to my right, Intro to Architecture in the center, and Spanish III on my left. Midterms were next week and I wanted to be prepared. I had been studying for over 3 hours when I heard a knock on my door. “Come in!” I shouted, not even looking up from Architecture.

“How is the studying going?” My mother asked, opening my door slowly.

“Good.” Switching over to Spanish.

“You should come down to have some dinner.”

“No thanks. I'll probably just eat here in my room. I want to study more.” My mother walked over to my bed slowly, and did something only a mother could, she took my books and closed them. “Hey!” She grabbed my hand as I tried to snatch the book back.

“You are coming downstairs.” She pulled me off of my bed and dragged me down the stairs as I yelled in protest. When we got down to the dining room, my nose was enveloped with garlic and tomato. There sat in my dining room was Percy. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and wearing a nice polo shirt. It was white and it really brought out the blue in his eyes. 

“Percy, I told you I was studying this weekend. I was just going to eat and study.” My mother forced me down into a chair and walked out of the dining room. 

“Well, I had to ask you something and I thought why not over dinner?” He smirked at me and started putting spaghetti on a plate. He threw some garlic bread to the plate and passed it over to me.

“Seriously Percy, you couldn't ask me over the phone?” Although the food smelled heavenly. “But, I guess I can let it slide.” We started to eat and talk about what I had been studying. As soon as we were done, Percy reached over and took my hand.

“Annabeth, I know you want to take this slow. I know that you do love me. So, I want to ask you…” He dropped down on to one knee. I felt my breath catch in my lungs and then I heard my voice shout out.

“Jesus Christ Percy! Is you head really made of seaweed? Where did you get ‘Marry me?’ Out of taking it slow?!”

It was obvious he was trying to hold back laughter, “You didn’t let me finish. Annabeth, will you move in with me?” He pulled a key out from behind him.

“Percy Allen James, WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU GET DOWN ON ONE KNEE TO ASK THAT?!” I heard my mother laughing in the other room and could see the pained look on Percy’s face as he held his laughter in. He got up and put his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him. 

“Because my brain is made of seaweed and I love scaring the hell out of you. So will you?” I looked down at the key he was holding in his hand. I do not know why I felt so afraid to yes. I loved him. I basically lived with him already. It was just the fact that we were making it official. That I would be officially moved out and living on my own with him. That we'd finally be alone. I looked up at him and shook my head. He squealed and swung me around. I started laughing and when he stopped, I pulled his face to mine to kiss him. 

“So, when do we move in?” I asked between kisses. 

“Right after school gets out. We will move in and we can get jobs. We can go see the place tomorrow.” He pulled me into another kiss.

 

“So where are we going?” Percy insisted that I wear a bandana over my eyes and guide me through the streets. I was making a guess that the apartment was somewhat close to school. Every time I would accidentally run into someone, Percy would apologize and explain what was happening. “I feel like I am being taken off to be murdered somewhere.” 

“Dammit, you guessed exactly my plan. I have been planning this since the minute you threw up on my shoes. Those were some fantastic shoes.” I chuckled and felt him grab my shoulders to stop me. He turned me to face what I am assuming is the apartment. I heard the jingle of his keys as he searched for the keys. His hand slid down to my hand and pulled me forward and through a doorway. The bandana fell from my eyes and I was welcomed with one of the most hideous apartment I had ever seen. There was only one door in the whole apartment and it lead to the bathroom. The walls were starting crack in places. The kitchen was the saddest part. There was the tiniest fridge I had ever seen, a sink that leaked, and a gas stove and oven.

“Welcome home!” Percy was smiling like this was the world’s greatest apartment. I hated that I was about to break his heart.

“Percy.” I said walking over to take his hands.

“Yes, Annabeth?”

“How do I put this lightly? This place is a piece of shit.”

He put on a puppy face, “It’s got character.”

“Percy, there is a whole in that wall.” I pointed towards the bathroom wall. “We would be living in one big room. There isn't even a bedroom.” I walked up to him and looked at him. “Percy, I love you, but I am not moving into here with you.”

He sighed, “I guess we can look at different places.” I reached up and kissed him. When I looked past his face, I froze. “What’s wrong?” He turned around and saw a tarantula on the counter. “Okay, we need to get the hell out of here.” And he dragged my frozen body out of the door to the street.


	15. Just Let Me Do The Folding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this being a long time! Plan was to have a long chapter but then I got so busy that it didn't happen. I decided to give you what I have even though it is not as much as I would like.

For the next week, Percy and I searched for apartments by NYU in every free moment we got. It got to the weekend and I said to him, “This weekend we need to camp out in a room and continue to search.” I logged into my computer and started pulling up some sites. 

“Or…” Percy closed my laptop and put it into my backpack. “You have a girls weekend because you haven’t seen your friends in a couple weeks.”

“We need to pick out an apartment soon Percy or all the good ones will be gone.” I grabbed the laptop back and started to log into it. He grabbed it and threw it on to Piper’s empty bed. He jumped off my bed and started filling my duffel bag with clothing and my toothbrush. 

“You are going and you are going to spend the whole weekend with your friends at Thalia’s apartment.” He continued to get all my stuff. I felt pain every time he did not fold my clothing or just through my toiletries into the bag and not into my makeup bag. 

“Percy…”

“No, buts Wisegirl. You are going and you are going to like it. Your friends are already all set up and waiting for you.” He zipped the bag and handed it to me with a serious look on his face.

“I was just going to ask you to let me fold my clothes because it is paining me watching you do this.” I bit my lip, trying to hold back the laughter building in my throat. Percy’s eyes went big and his mouth formed an O. He looked down at the bag, then back at me, and then back at the bag. He slowly unzipped the bag and dumped everything onto my bed and threw the bag on my lap. I started to fold the clothes and put them into the bag. “Thank you Seaweed Brain.”

 

I pulled onto the street that Thalia’s apartment was on. I took a deep breath and let it out. Thalia and Luke had moved off campus after the first semester and lived with this weird kid named Leo and his girlfriend Calypso. They came onto campus with Thalia and Luke once. Leo, Jason, and Percy hit it off immediately with ADHD energy coursing through them. Calypso seemed very nice and she didn’t seem like she liked Leo that much, but they were each other's soul mates. I walked up to the door and knocked. Calypso answered the door. 

“Annabeth! Hey!” She pulled me into an awkward hug and started to pull me through the door. 

“Where are Leo and Luke this weekend?” I said looking around the room and hoping I wouldn’t see Luke. 

“They are hanging out with the boys.” Her voice sang. She seemed a lot happier than she seemed a month ago.  
“How are you and Leo doing?” I started to stake out all of the possible exits for in case Luke came back.

She looked back at me, “We are doing a lot better than when we started.” She smiled so wide I thought she was going to rip her cheeks. “At first it was a little rocky because I didn’t like his energy, but now that we have gotten to know each other better, it is all good.”

“I am really happy for you.” She squealed and led me into the living room. It was a tiny living room. The TV was set up against the wall. Piper and Thalia had moved the couch to the back corner and the coffee table in the other corner. Sleeping bags and air mattresses were sprawled across the floor with bottles of tequila and the girls. It looked like they had already broken into the bottle.

“Annabeth!” Piper shouted at me, “Welcome to girls weekend! Here do a shot.” She handed it to me. 

“No, no. I am okay Pipes.” I started pushing it back into her hand.

“Do it! Do it!” Everyone shouted at me. Piper gave me a puppy dog face and I sighed, taking the shot. I threw my head back and the tequila burned its way down my throat. All the girls cheered. Piper took my bag and my sleeping bag. She laid them right next to hers and I sat down. 

“So what are we doing first?” I asked.

“First,” Thalia started, “I was thinking we could put on Cutthroat Kitchen and do the shot game to some of the episodes.” She smiled at me, handing me back my shot glass. “Then we can do some truth or dare.” Everyone cheered, and I gave a small wooh. The worst part of truth or dare is playing it drunk. Thalia turned on her TV and we watched 3 episodes of Cutthroat Kitchen. By the end of the third episode we were pretty tipsy. 

“Okkkaaayyy,” Piper slurred, “It is time for some truth or darrrreee.” We all cheered a very drunken cheer. “Hazel, truth or dare?” Piper shouted as she pointed at Hazel.

“Truth, duh. I am not that drunk.” Hazel smirked at Piper. 

“Okay gurl… Have you and Frank done it yet?” Now it was Piper’s turn to smirk. 

Hazel started to blush. She started to stutter out, “Ye- Yes.” Everyone in the room cheered and hooted. Hazel started to smile, and decided to take another shot. “Here, everyone take another shot!” Everyone did and I started to gather Hazel’s idea to get them as drunk as she can so they will not remember some of the night. I smiled at her and did the shot. We played a couple of rounds until it got to me. Bianca just finished stripping to the song Never Gonna Give You Up, when she turned to me and said, “Annie, truth or dare.” Everyone else was drunk to the point of everything being funny. I had decided to stop drinking for the night so I was sneaking water into my glass instead of tequila. I was still pretty drunk, but I was much more coherent than the rest of them. 

“Truth, of course.” I started to fidget with my father’s class ring on my necklace. Truth always made me nervous because I didn’t want them to ask certain questions that will lead to letting out my whole soul. 

“Have you ever kissed or been with someone other than Percy?” I could feel my jaw start to drop open. I looked around the room and everywhere I looked I spotted Luke. I could feel the chill creep up my spine. “I- uh.”

“Of course she hasn’t.” interrupted Piper. “If she had she would have told me.” 

“You never know, Piper.” Thalia intervened, “She just might not have told you if she had.”

“No way!” Piper turned to me, “So what is the answer Annabeth?” All of them were staring at me and I felt my breath catch in my throat. This was it, I thought, I can finally tell them all. Even if Thalia is here, I can tell them. I AM GOING TO TELL THEM. Just as I started to open my mouth to spill everything onto the table, the door swung open and there was Luke carrying a very drunk Leo. Leo’s curly brown hair was all over the place and his jaw was wide open like he was sleeping. 

“Leo!” Calypso jumped up and ran over to him. “What happened to him?” She started to pet his hair and feel his forehead. 

“Leo decided to have a little too much fun.” Luke told her, “I decided we should cancel the weekend. I hope this doesn’t ruin your plans.” He looked over to Thalia with puppy dog eyes. I wanted to vomit up everything that was in my stomach. Thalia walked up to Luke and kissed him on lips. 

“You are fine. Just take Leo to his room and you can go to ours.” Luke reached down and kissed her again. I felt my heart flew up into my throat. I excused myself to go to the bathroom and rushed down the hall. When I got there, I leaned over the sink, taking very deep breaths. I reached into my pajama pants and pulled out my phone. I had 4 missed calls from Percy, so I put dialed his number and put the phone to my ear. It rang for less than a second when his urgent voice carried over the speaker. 

“Annie! Thank God you picked up! Listen, Luke headed home with Leo. Do you need to come home?” Tears started to fall down my face from happiness. From the fact that he took the time to call me about Luke.

“No, I think I will be okay. There are plenty of people here. If anything happens, I will make sure to call you. Percy?”

“Yes, Wise Girl?”

“I love you so much.” I could feel him smile over the phone even though he was miles away. 

“I love you too. See you Sunday.” I clicked the end button and tapped the phone against my mouth. Getting up the courage to get out of this bathroom was going to take a lot. I tucked my phone back into my waistband and turned the knob slowly. I slid out of the bathroom into the hallway. It was dead quiet in the living room. I tiptoed down the hall and saw everyone spread out onto the living room floor. I figured I must have been in the bathroom for maybe 10 minutes. They must have not even noticed I was gone in all of the commotion. I snuck down to my spot next to Piper and slithered into my sleeping bag. I listened to Piper’s light snores next to me and started to drift off to sleep.


	16. Pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyyyy I'm back. This took long to write because of the content and life. So it is a little bit of heavy but at the end it gets light again!

I was simply minding my own business when all of a sudden, I was stepped on by a running person. I let out a grunt and opened my eyes to see Bianca running to the bathroom. I groaned as I rolled onto my side, holding my stomach. Bianca probably just had too much to drink, but I still wanted to check on her. I swayed my way to the bathroom, partly from tiredness and partly from drunkenness. I knocked on the bathroom and heard a quiet voice say, “Go away.”

“It’s Annabeth. You stepped on me and I wanted to make sure you were alright…” I carefully opened the door and she didn’t stop me. The bathroom looked like a mess. Puke was all over the bathroom walls. It looked like a strawberry pink painting. I looked at Bianca and noticed the look. The look of being so scared and holding in a secret. Eyes were crusted with red from crying and her hands shaking on the side of the toilet. I dropped down on to my knees. “Bianca, look at me.” I grabbed her face and pulled it up to face me. “Did he do this to you?” Tears escaped my eyes and Bianca fell sobbing into my shirt, nodding her head.

 

After a good 10 minutes of crying, Bianca told me what had happened. 

“It has been going on for a couple of weeks now. I would come to visit Thalia and whenever she wasn’t looking, he’d slide his hand farther up my leg. I didn’t really get what was happening, so I just let it happened. Then, last Friday, Thalia left to get the pizza we had ordered and he… he kissed me. I told him that I couldn’t do this to Thalia, but…. He didn’t take no for an answer. He forced me down and started to kiss me harder. Luckily, Thalia came in right as he started to unbutton my pants.” She took in a sharp breath. “ Tonight, after everyone went to bed and I was starting to drift off, I felt a hand slip down my pants. I opened my eyes and there was Luke. I opened my mouth but he leaned into me and asked me if I really wanted to ruin Thalia’s relationship. I… I didn’t know what to say, so I just shut my mouth and he continued to do things down there. Then, he took my hand and put it down his pants. He forced me to do this. Annabeth, you have to believe me.” I felt my heart fall into my stomach and I grabbed her hand and told her my story. Her mouth was hung open by the end of it and she said, “You have known this for almost a year? You had to live with him around and suffer every time he was around?”

“Well, I eventually told Percy. He was the only one I felt like I could trust with this secret. I didn’t want to break up the group.” She squeezed my hand and laid her head on my shoulder. 

“Now, you have me too.” 

 

For the rest of the night, I slept right next to Bianca. When morning rolled around, we both snuck out before everyone else was awake. I walked Bianca to her and her brother’s apartment. 

“If you ever need to talk, I am here for you.” She threw her arms around me and then ran into her house. I continued to walk to Percy’s mother’s apartment. Sally was off with my mother at a women’s retreat. When I started walking up the stairs, Percy was already waiting for me at the door. He pulled me into a hug, squeezing the life out of me. 

“It is okay, Seaweed Brain.” I debated about telling him about Bianca, but I wasn’t sure if she would want me to tell him about it. I walked in and threw my duffel bag into Percy’s room. “Percy, what if I told you I met someone else who was abused by Luke?” I asked him with my back to him, facing into his bedroom.

“Wait, really Annabeth?” I felt him step closer to me. “Who Annabeth?”

“It… it was just someone I met in a chat online.” I turned to face him. “What should I do? This person was hurt a lot worse than me and it was over a period of a couple weeks.”

“We have to go tell the police, Annabeth! This guy has just sexually abused two people! One of them is the girl I love! We have to tell!” 

“What if she doesn’t want to tell?” I walked past him towards the living room. “What if I don’t want to tell?”

“Annabeth, we have too.” He closed the space between us. “We have to put him away for good! He cannot keep getting away with this.” 

“I will ask the other person, but Percy, this would ruin our friendship with all of our friends. They might never want to talk to us again.” He pulled me into his chest and pet my hair.  
“I choose you over everyone.”

I looked up into his eyes, my heart filling with so much love that it was going to overflow. I felt myself reach my hand for his neck and use it to pull myself to his lips. His hands cradled the small of my back. I felt myself kissing him harder than I had ever kissed him before. Soon, my legs were up around his waist and he was carrying me to his bedroom. I let go of his face and started taking my shirt off while I was still kissing him. Then, I started to take off his shirt and throw it across the room. That is when we heard the crash and I realized my sexy moment had just broke a lamp across the room. We both looked over and then looked back at each other, continuing to kiss. He laid me down on the bed and just as I reached for his belt, he stopped. 

“Are you sure Annabeth? Should we have a safe word like Pancakes?”

“Yes. And no.” And I started to kiss down his neck traveling down his body as I take his belt off. 

 

Afterwards, we laid in a tangle of body parts under the covers. For once, I did not let my PTSD stop me and it did not come up like I thought it would. It was just a slow, calm first time. Nothing like what you see in movies. Percy would ask me before we would do anything that I still wanted to do this. And every time I said yes. Under the hot sheets, I felt his chest move up and down with his rapid breath. 

“So, was that as good for you as it was for me?” 

“For the fifth time, yes Seaweed Brain.” I replied laughing. 

“Okay, but on like a scale of 1 to 10, how good was it?”

“How should I know? I have nothing to compare it too.” 

“Well, we can change that.” And he threw the sheet up over our heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay a poll for in the comments:
> 
> Do you want actual smut or do you like the air of you know it happened but do not need to read it?


End file.
